{"id":8753,"date":"2012-03-10T03:00:48","date_gmt":"2012-03-10T01:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/03\/s-african-muslims-come-to-life-in-material-film\/"},"modified":"2012-03-10T03:00:48","modified_gmt":"2012-03-10T01:00:48","slug":"s-african-muslims-come-to-life-in-material-film","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/s-african-muslims-come-to-life-in-material-film\/","title":{"rendered":"S.African Muslims come to life in "Material" film"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t<\/span><\/p>\n

By Ed Cropley<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

JOHANNESBURG, March 9<\/span> (Reuters) – A low-budget movie
\nabout a young Muslim man’s quest to make it on the Johannesburg
\ncomedy circuit is wowing audiences across South Africa, and its
\npowerful portrayal of the clash between youth, tradition and
\nreligion may lead to global recognition.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Set in the Muslim Indian enclave of Fordsburg in Africa’s
\n“City of Gold”, “Material” charts the tempestuous relationship
\nbetween Cassim Kaif, played by local stand-up comedian Riaad
\nMoosa, and his ageing father, Ebrahim, whose one dream is for
\nhis son to take over the family’s struggling fabric shop.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Shot on a shoe-string $1 million budget, the movie combines
\nmoments of heart-wrenching family and personal drama with
\nhilarious snippets of stand-up comedy and everyday life in one
\nof the continent’s most cosmopolitan cities.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

“The film celebrates the goodness of South Africa’s spirit
\nand the legacy of a unique and historical part of this land,”
\nsaid producer Ronnie Apteker, a successful Internet entrepreneur
\nwhose energies are now dedicated to film-making.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

“It is not a Bollywood film, but a contemporary Indian
\nstory. It is a movie for the whole family, contains no
\nprofanity, and should be able to be enjoyed by people of all
\nages both in South Africa and the rest of the world.”<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

In the past three weeks, box office takings show it holding
\nits own against major Hollywood releases, and it is generating
\nconsiderable buzz in local media and among a South African
\npublic not renowned for its movie-going.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

It is also a rare example of a film that explores the plight
\nof the sizeable Indian community, rather than focus on the more
\nwell-known struggle of the black majority against the
\nwhite-minority rule that ended in 1994.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Besides Moosa – a doctor by training – it features a
\nstirring performance by South African-born actor Vincent
\nEbrahim, better known as the penny-pinching patriarch in
\naward-winning British-Indian comedy show “The Kumars at No. 42”.
\n\u00a0 Continued…<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Ed Cropley JOHANNESBURG, March 9 (Reuters) – A low-budget movie about a young Muslim man’s quest to make it on the Johannesburg comedy circuit is wowing audiences across South Africa, and its powerful portrayal of the clash between youth, tradition and religion may lead to global recognition. Set in the Muslim Indian enclave of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[830,2370,183],"class_list":{"0":"post-8753","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-south-africa","7":"tag-news","8":"tag-reuters","9":"tag-south-africa-2","10":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8753","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8753"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8753\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8753"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8753"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8753"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}